London terror attack death toll rises to seven: Police
Seven people were killed
in a terror attack on June 3 by three assailants on London Bridge and in the
bustling Borough Market nightlife district, the chief of London's police force
said on June 4.
"It has now been confirmed sadly that seven members of
the public have died," Cressida Dick told reporters, raising the toll from
six victims earlier.
Three assailants stabbed passers-by at random after smashing
into pedestrians in a van, killing six people in a "terror attack" in
a popular nightlife hub in London before being shot dead by armed police.
Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative party suspended
campaigning for this week's general election following June 3 attack, which
came less than a fortnight after 22 people were killed in a suicide bombing at
a concert in Manchester.
As they rampaged through the bars around London Bridge, the
attackers wore what looked like suicide vests which turned out to be
"hoaxes", said Mark Rowley, head of counter-terrorism policing.
"We believe that six people have died in addition to the
three attackers shot dead by police" in what is being treated as a
"terrorist incident", Rowley said.
Forty-eight people were rushed to hospitals in the area,
according to the London Ambulance Service.
"They were stabbing everyone. They were running up and
going 'This is for Allah'," a man called Gerard told the BBC, adding that
he had seen the assailants stabbing a girl and had tried to confront them.
Another witness called Eric told the BBC he had seen three
men come out of a white van after hitting pedestrians and thought they were
going to help.
But instead they "started kicking them, punching them
and took out knives. It was a rampage really," he said, adding that he
also heard a shout of: "This is for Allah".
France said two of its citizens were injured in the attack,
one seriously, and President Emmanuel Macron, said his nation -- which has
suffered its own wave of terror attacks -- was "more than ever at
Britain's side."
The injured also included a police officer who was one of the
first responders on the scene and was stabbed in the face and leg.
Police said the three men were shot by a police armed
response team within eight minutes of receiving the first call at 10:08 pm
(2108 GMT).
The attack came only minutes after the end of the Champions
League final between Real Madrid and Juventus, in an area teeming with bars
where many fans were watching the football on television.
Britain is on high alert only 12 days after a suicide bomber
killed 22 people at the concert in Manchester, northwest England, and ahead of
the June 8 vote, in which security is a major theme.
"The Conservative party will not be campaigning
nationally today. We will review as the day goes on and as more details of the
attack emerge," a spokesman for the ruling centre-right party told AFP.
May was due to chair an emergency cabinet meeting on June 4
morning.
"Our thoughts are with those who caught up in these
dreadful events," May said in a statement.
It is the latest in a string of attacks to hit Europe,
including in Paris, Berlin and Saint Petersburg.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed Macron's message of solidarity, saying
her country was "resolutely at Britain's side".
"Today we are united across borders in horror and
mourning, but also in determination," she said.
US President Donald Trump offered his help, tweeting "WE
ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!" -- and highlighting his thwarted ban on
travellers from six mainly Muslim countries.
US pop star Ariana Grande, whose concert in Manchester was
the scene of last week's fatal terror attack, tweeted: "Praying for
London".
Witnesses described the van speeding into several pedestrians
on London Bridge and then the knife-wielding men sprinting towards bars packed
with revellers enjoying a Saturday night out.
Several people said they were ordered to stay inside pubs and
restaurants by police and eventually had to come out with their hands on their
heads.
Italian photographer Gabriele Sciotto, who was watching the
football at the Wheatsheaf pub in Borough Market, said he saw three men shot
just outside the pub.
In a picture he took, a man wearing combat trousers, with a
shaved head and what looked like a belt with canisters attached to it could be
seen on the ground with two more bodies behind him.
"In two or five seconds, they shot all the three men
down," Sciotto told the BBC.
Dozens of emergency vehicles could be seen and a wide area
around London Bridge was cordoned off as two helicopters hovered overhead.
Media reports said police carried out three controlled
explosions during the night.
The attack had harrowing echoes of the one on London's
Westminster Bridge in March, when British Muslim convert Khalid Masood rammed
his car into pedestrians before crashing into the barriers surrounding
parliament.
He stabbed a police officer to death before being shot dead
by a ministerial bodyguard.
Witnesses on London Bridge reported seeing a van mounting the
pavement and hitting pedestrians.
"There was a van that crashed into the fences on London
Bridge. And then there was a man with a knife, he was running. He came down the
stairs and went to the bar," Dee, 26, who was visibly in shock and
declined to give her last name, told AFP.
Alex Shellum at the Mudlark pub near the scene of the attack
said a woman had come into the bar "bleeding heavily from the neck".
"It appeared that her throat had been cut," he told
the BBC.
Husband and wife Ben and Natalie told BBC radio they were
outside Borough Market when they witnessed a stabbing.
Ben said: "We saw people running away and then I saw a
man in red with a large blade, at a guess 10 inches (25 centimetres) long,
stabbing a man, about three times".
Facebook activated its safety check function for people in
London to let their loved ones know they are safe and local residents offered
accommodation for anyone left stranded, under the hashtag #sofaforlondon.